Chapter 117: From Beginning to End, Shen Linyan Was Never the Gentle Second Male Lead

When An Ling found out that Zhou Wen and Lu Jingshen had divorced, her first reaction was pure bewilderment.

Outside, the weather was gloomy. The rain pattered down, and the fierce wind rustled the leaves. Inside the cafe, people came and went, and the bright lights were almost glaring.

Sitting in her seat, she felt an inexplicable sense of absurdity. She froze for a moment before slowly typing:

[Really?]

Shen Fuyuan: [Absolutely true! After I went back, I happened to see my mom looking for a blind date for my second brother. I asked about it and found out they're already divorced! I heard he gave Zhou Wen a ten million divorce settlement and even gave her the house.]

An Ling didn't know how to describe her current mood.

She suddenly felt as if she was seeing the world after a novel's ending.

Because this was a plotline she had never been involved in.

The male and female leads actually got divorced.

Could it be that in the original plot, the male and female leads also divorced after she died?

After all, she had already logged off by then and couldn't see how the story developed.

The things she was experiencing now overlapped somewhat with the ending in her memory, but they didn't match perfectly.

Some plot points appeared early, while others appeared late.

Shen Linyan had gone bankrupt, and the male lead had indeed taken the position of chairman of the Shen Group.

The only difference was that the An family hadn't gone bankrupt yet, and she hadn't died.

Thinking of this, An Ling's eyes suddenly grew distant.

After a moment of silence, she opened WeChat and removed Zhou Wen from her blacklist.

Just as she was about to send a message, she paused.

On her phone, several new messages suddenly popped up.

The sender was a string of unknown numbers.

[An Ling, are you satisfied now?]

[Your tricks are getting more and more impressive. Well, now you've achieved your goal.]

It was painfully obvious who sent these messages.

An Ling thought it was quite a coincidence. She had just been looking for Zhou Wen, and the other party delivered herself right to her door.

[Zhou Wen?]

After sending it, the other side fell silent.

An Ling took the initiative to call her.

Once the call connected, the woman on the other end spoke first. "An Ling, you must be very proud of yourself right now, aren't you? I finally divorced Lu Jingshen. Isn't this what you've always wanted?"

An Ling picked up her coffee and took a sip. "What does your divorce have to do with me? Why should I be proud?"

Zhou Wen's voice suddenly pitched higher. "How does it not have anything to do with you! If it weren't for those news reports, why would he divorce me..."

"Isn't it because he wants to marry someone else?"

At those words, Zhou Wen's voice instantly caught in her throat.

After a long while, she let out a cold sneer. "But if you hadn't constantly gotten in the way, Lu Jingshen's feelings for me wouldn't have faded so quickly. Before, he loved me so much he could even go against his mother. How could he have turned out like this?"

An Ling thought to herself, what did this have to do with her?

Previously, her body had been hijacked by the system to become a tool to promote their relationship, and she didn't see Zhou Wen thanking her for that.

An Ling put down her cup, her tone carrying a hint of a sigh. "So you also knew that Lu Jingshen loved you to death? Were all those fights before just for show?"

The system had done so much, thinking it was making the female lead jealous, but it turned out it was all just an act.

In reality, Zhou Wen had known all along just how much Lu Jingshen loved her.

She had to admit, the female lead's tactics were indeed formidable.

It was just a pity that no one expected Lu Jingshen to be such a massive mama's boy.

An Ling rubbed her thumb against the rim of her cup, raised her eyes to glance out the window, and slowly said, "Zhou Wen, I'm quite curious. Were you with Lu Jingshen just for the money from the very beginning?"

Hearing this, the woman fell silent for a moment before suddenly letting out a mocking sneer. "What? Are you trying to trick me into saying something so you can tell Shen Linyan? Do you think Shen Linyan will believe you?"

"Tell Shen Linyan?"

An Ling smiled and said, "You seem to have misunderstood. I'm just a little surprised that you and Lu Jingshen were actually these kinds of people from start to finish..."

But then she paused and slowly lowered her eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, she added with a soft smile:

"You guys... hid your true colors quite well."

Zhou Wen frowned. "What do you mean by that? What true colors?"

An Ling's tone was cold. "Literally what I said."

Zhou Wen twitched her lips. "An Ling, your plan succeeded. I'm divorced now, so shouldn't you divorce Shen Linyan too?"

An Ling: "Why would I divorce Shen Linyan?"

"Didn't you marry into the Shen family just to make it easier to target my relationship with Lu Jingshen?"

"..."

That was her previous marriage.

An Ling pinched the bridge of her nose. She wanted to retort, but she felt that arguing with this kind of person was a waste of time. "Think whatever you want."

Just as she was about to hang up, Zhou Wen's voice came through again.

"An Ling, do you think if I could hook Lu Jingshen, I couldn't hook Shen Linyan? I was the one who approached Shen Linyan first. Who knows, if you divorce him, he might just get together with me."

An Ling's movements froze.

A moment later, she smiled and sighed.

"Then go tell Shen Linyan. You can have him come and ask me for a divorce."

Hanging up, the smile faded from An Ling's face.

She put down her phone, leaned back in her chair, and turned to quietly watch the rain outside the window.

The phone on the table suddenly buzzed.

She glanced at it.

Shen Linyan: [Madam, shall I pick you up tonight?]

Her gaze lingered on the screen for a moment. She picked up her bag and stood up, dialing a number as she walked out the door.

Jiang Mai saw her leaving and originally wanted to say hello.

But seeing the woman on the phone, the expression on her face froze again.

What was going on?

Did something happen at the company?

Pushing open the cafe doors, the cold wind wrapped in icy rain hit her face, and a chill seeped into her collar.

An Ling's eyelashes fluttered. She instinctively shrank her neck and gently pursed her lips.

"Beep... Beep..."

The call connected, and a surprised male voice came from the other end.

"An Ling? Why are you calling me all of a sudden?"

She pinned the phone between her ear and shoulder and opened her umbrella. "Brother, are you free right now?"

An Zhou answered in confusion, "Yes, I'm at the company. What's wrong?"

Holding the umbrella, An Ling grabbed her phone, lowered her eyes, and spoke softly:

"I want to ask you some things. About Shen Linyan."

...

Inside the CEO's office at the An Group.

The secretary placed a glass of water on the table and smiled. "Miss An, please have some water."

An Ling nodded slightly. "Thank you."

The secretary left, thoughtfully closing the door behind her.

An Zhou sat to the side drinking tea, his gaze quietly studying the girl calmly drinking water on the sofa.

Why did she feel a bit intimidating...

He put down his teacup, his tone carrying a hint of probing. "What do you want to ask about Shen Linyan?"

Has that kid finally failed to hide his true colors?

An Ling paused. After a long while, she parted her lips and spoke slowly, "Brother, before... you said Shen Linyan wasn't a good person. Was it just because he snatched the company's project?"

An Zhou's movements froze.

His eyes darted around. He picked up his teacup again and muttered a hesitant "Yeah." "What else would it be? Why are you suddenly asking this? Have you finally realized that kid isn't a good person? Congratulations."

An Ling looked at him calmly.

"I want the truth."

"..."

An Zhou's face stiffened imperceptibly for a second. "Why are you asking this? Knowing won't do you any good..."

But faced with the girl's silent, steady gaze, his voice trailed off.

Finally, he let out a helpless click of his tongue. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you. Wasn't your body controlled by the system before? You did some foolish things, and Shen Linyan sent all the evidence of those incidents to me. How do you think those public relations crises were suppressed? If I hadn't handed those projects over to him, he would never have agreed to keep things quiet."

An Ling's fingertips stiffened. She twisted her fingers together, her eyelids drooping slightly. Her voice betrayed no emotion. "So Shen Linyan used me to threaten you many times, didn't he?"

Seeing her like this, An Zhou sighed. "...Look, I knew you would blame yourself again. I didn't even want to mention it. That is all in the past, and besides, you weren't the one who did it. Wasn't it the system using your body? Furthermore, losing a few projects isn't a big deal. The An family can still keep going just fine."

"Brother, it's not like that..."

The young woman interrupted softly, her voice a bit hoarse. "If I hadn't come back that day and stopped all of this, the An family might have been destroyed by Shen Linyan, and I might have ended up dead on the streets."

An Zhou's face froze in shock.

He watched as An Ling slowly raised her head.

The young woman's eyes were rimmed with red, yet she still managed to curve them into a slight smile as tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes. Her voice was practically trembling.

"I told my secret... to someone I couldn't be certain of."

From beginning to end, Shen Linyan was never the gentle second male lead.

From the very start, his only reason for marrying An Ling was to swallow up the An family.

There was no such thing as being forced by circumstances, and there was no such thing as salvation. It was all a lie.